iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Michael Landis

Albert Ch. Soewongsono @albertchristian.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

A new preprint w/ @landismj.bsky.social that I’m excited to share! We develop a theoretical framework linking evolutionary scenarios to mathematical constraints on parameters that produce given stationary frequencies in state-dependent speciation-extinction models. We call these “rulesets.” #EvoBio

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Michael Landis @landismj.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

While ignoring phylogenetic info 🙈🌳: what do patterns of trait variation tell us about an underlying diversification process? New theoretical work by postdoc @albertchristian.bsky.social detailing how SSE parameter "rulesets" generate particular state freq outcomes www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

biorxiv.org

On the mapping between evolutionary scenarios and governing rules in state-dependent speciation-extinction models

Biologists often wish to explain why one trait is more common than its alternatives among species in a clade: is it due to asymmetries in diversification or character evolution processes? State-depend...

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Reposted by Michael Landis

Ixchel González-Ramírez @ixchelgr.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

¿Te interesa postularte a una beca de Estancias Posdoctorales por México (SECIHTI) para desarrollar investigación en sistemática y evolución de hepáticas talosas complejas de México en el Instituto de Biología, UNAM? ¡Estoy buscando una persona interesada en preparar conmigo la propuesta!

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Michael Landis @landismj.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

My lab, my collaborators, my department, my friends, and my family have my eternal gratitude -- thank you all!

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Michael Landis @landismj.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

I began my PhD in 2010 to study evolutionary biology and the history of life on earth. I expected to learn about natural history, statistics, writing, and research. And I did. I hadn't anticipated how much I'd learn about people, education, and society over the past 16 years. Very grateful for that.

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Michael Landis @landismj.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

I'm delighted to share I was granted tenure on July 1st :-)

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Reposted by Michael Landis

Albert Ch. Soewongsono @albertchristian.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

I'm excited to share that our latest paper is now out in PNAS! www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... It was a pleasure working with @landismj.bsky.social and Ammon Thompson on this project, developing a new phylogenetic model for infectious disease transmission with realistic host movement dynamics. #evobio

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Reposted by Michael Landis

Tracy Heath @trayc7.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

I’m recruiting a PhD student to join our lab in the fall of 2027. If you’re excited about phylogenetics, comp bio, paleobiology, stats theory, macroevolution, etc. please get in touch! Folks at #Evol2026, you can talk to @brpetrucci.bsky.social & @sigournie.bsky.social to learn more about our lab

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Michael Landis @landismj.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

The @systbiol.bsky.social Mentorship Program is looking for a few more faculty/curators/etc. to help mentor the next generation of systematic biologists. Great way to meet new people and build community, and only takes ~1 hour per month. Link: forms.gle/1daBQbswoFqj... Please share!

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Reposted by Michael Landis

Jake Berv @jakeberv.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

#Evol2026 I’m launching a new research group at UNC Charlotte in January 2027. Prospective students, postdocs, and collaborators are welcome to get in touch: jacob.berv@charlotte.edu More at jakeberv.com, lab website coming soon.

Announcement for a new Biodiversity Informatics Research Group at UNC Charlotte, launching January 2027. Dr. Jake Berv is launching a lab studying biodiversity across space and deep time, integrating phylogenomics, fossil and modern specimens, fieldwork, and comparative methods. A major near-term interest is developing and benchmarking human-guided AI research agents for rigorous, reproducible analyses in ecology and evolution. Prospective students, postdocs, and collaborators in macroevolution, computational biology and AI, natural history, and open science are welcome to get in touch at jacob.berv@charlotte.edu. More information: jakeberv.com. The graphic features McDowell Nature Preserve in Charlotte.

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Michael Landis @landismj.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

Our lab has several #Evolution2026 presentations this year! Topics include SSE models, character maps, ancestral states, and deep learning Presenters: Raymond Castillo (@raymondcast.bsky.social), Sean McHugh (@phyllurus.bsky.social), Anna Nagel, Albert Soewongsono (@albertchristian.bsky.social)

List of Evolution 2026 presentations by Landis lab members:

Anna Nagel, Sunday @ 2:45pm, Room 22
Albert Soewongsono, Tuesday @ 10:30am, Room 23
Raymond Castillo, Tuesday @ 4:45pm, Room 25B
Albert Soewongsono, Tuesday @ 6:00pm, Grand Ballroom BC
Sean McHugh, Wednesday @ 9:30am, Room 21

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Reposted by Michael Landis

The International Biogeography Society @biogeography.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Frontiers of Biogeography, the scientific journal of The International Biogeography Society, is seeking new editors to join the team! If interested, please see the solicitation here: www.biogeography.org/news/news/ap...

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Reposted by Michael Landis

Michael Landis @landismj.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

The @systbiol.bsky.social Mentorship Program is back for 2026-2027! The program pairs off mentees with mentors based on shared interests in systematics and biodiversity research. Low effort, high reward! 12 virtual monthly meetings. More info: www.systbio.org/mentorship-p... Apply by June 12th!

systbio.org

Mentorship Program

Last updated May 14, 2025

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Reposted by Michael Landis

Jessica R. Glass, PhD @jessicaglass.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

One federal grant was just terminated ($1.3 million from DHS) and one was awarded but not funded ($46,748 from NOAA) due to the new federal administration priorities and executive orders. PIs, how are you addressing these situations on your CVs? 💸

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Reposted by Michael Landis

Preshonnature @preshonnature.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

Don’t miss out on this!! Apply by June 12th!!

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Reposted by Michael Landis

The Society of Systematic Biologists @systbiol.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Our #evol2026 cheatsheet is live, coinciding with the program release. Your one-stop shop for all the Society events during the meeting. Bookmark it and check back often in case of updates! www.systbio.org/evolution-20...

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Michael Landis @landismj.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

systbio.org

Mentorship Program

Last updated May 14, 2025

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Michael Landis @landismj.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

I should mention Sarah graduated last Tuesday, so that should read Dr. Swiston! 🥳

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Michael Landis @landismj.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

New work by methods-maven Anna Nagel (nage0178.github.io) on adapting likelihood-free deep-learning approaches for ancestral state estimation problems. Anna assessed how DL and Bayesian estimates compare (when possible) under various CTMC, SSE, and SIR models www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

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Michael Landis @landismj.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

New preprint with Sarah Swiston (sswiston.com) and Sean McHugh (@phyllurus.bsky.social) modeling species range evolution in continuous space using ellipses to represent ranges, applied to Australian skinks www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Figure shows (a) cartoon for how ancestral/descendant ranges [ellipses] may be inherited during cladogenesis; (b) how ellipses are generated from projects of circles through tilted plane; (c) circular coordinate system for cladogenesis; (d) budding-range cladogenesis pattern; and (e) splitting-range cladogenesis pattern.

Example of ancestral range estimate for an ancestral sphenomorphine skink species (node 235) during cladogenesis leading to two daughter species (nodes 240 and 236), plotted on Australia.

Image of Lerista bougainvilii: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lerista#/media/File:South-eastern_Slider_(Lerista_bougainvilii)_(9250941591).jpg

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Michael Landis @landismj.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Preprint from Feburary by the talented @albertchristian.bsky.social on modeling diversity-dependent speciation, extinction, and dispersal in a GeoSSE framework while using deep learning for inference: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

Image with four panels showing (a) scenario of phylogenetic tree and species ranges generated from speciation, extinction, and dispersal events in regions A and B; (b) how species counts increase/decrease in regions A and B over time; and how changing numbers of species in A and B cause changes in local (c) speciation rates, (d) extinction rates, and (e) dispersal rates.

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Reposted by Michael Landis

The International Biogeography Society @biogeography.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Join us on May 27th for the next Funk Biogeography Seminar! Dr. Michael Landis from Washington University in St. Louis will be speaking about the use of phylogenetic models to explore the biogeography of the past. Learn more and register here: www.biogeography.org/news/news/ma...

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Reposted by Michael Landis

Bob Thomson @rcthomson.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Systematic Biology's May issue is hot off the presses. This one has Title et al's 75th Anniversary paper on lineage diversification, new software for studying duplication and loss histories from Parsons and Bansal, and many more. academic.oup.com/sysbio/issue... @systbiol.bsky.social

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Michael Landis @landismj.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Congrats! Lovely name, assuming the Google translation is right: "The seep is named Hænir, after the god from the Völuspá who gave humans Óð." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%93%...

en.wikipedia.org

Óðr - Wikipedia

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Michael Landis @landismj.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

New preprint on the recent history of phylogenetic biogeography, with co-authors Isabel Sanmartín and Joel Cracraft, now up on EcoEvoRxiv: ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...

Figure of historical timeline for ideas in the manuscript. Caption reads: "An evolving view of phylogenetic biogeography. Each period (arrow) corresponds to one of the four periods discussed in the main text. The ordering of themes within each period does not precisely correspond to when key ideas were introduced or popularized."

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Michael Landis @landismj.bsky.social · 06/04/2026

New study led by Sean McHugh (@phyllurus.bsky.social) now out in @systbiol.bsky.social! Sean's approach models how species gain and lose biome affinities over time, both in terms of where they *do* live (e.g. movement) and where they *could* live (e.g. adaptation) doi.org/10.1093/sysb...

academic.oup.com

A Phylogenetic Model of Established and Enabled Biome Shifts

Abstract. Where each species actually lives is distinct from where it could potentially survive and persist. This suggests it is important to distinguish e

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Reposted by Michael Landis

April Wright @wrightam.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

I’m finishing my tenure as Chief Meeting Organizer for the Evolution Meetings. Apply to replace me! Without a doubt, this is my favorite service I’ve ever done. In trying times, it was a real balm to get together weekly with a group devoted to making the best meetings we can for students.

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Michael Landis @landismj.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

I just got to that passage 🤯

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Reposted by Michael Landis

Jeremy M. Brown @jembrown.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

Applications are now open for the 2026 Workshop on Molecular Evolution (MOLE)! www.mbl.edu/education/ad... Claudia Solis-Lemus and I will be holding an informational session on Zoom next Wed (1/21) from 10:30-11:30 AM Central for those interested: lsu.zoom.us/j/4968115684 Deadline to apply: 1/26

mbl.edu

Workshop on Molecular Evolution | Marine Biological Laboratory

The workshop serves graduate students, postdocs, and established faculty from around the world seeking to apply the principles of molecular evolution to questions of anthropology, conservation genetic...

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Michael Landis @landismj.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

Reflections on the evolving practice of systematic biology, a joy to write with Michael Donoghue for the upcoming 75th volume of Systematic Biology! academic.oup.com/sysbio/advan...

All Systematic Zoology/Biology research articles published over past 75 years, clustered by topic and represented in 2d space.

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Michael Landis @landismj.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

New preprint modeling pathogen phylogeography, where infected hosts spread disease through short "trips" between locations. Very fun collaboration with the brilliant @albertchristian.bsky.social and Ammon Thompson. www.medrxiv.org/content/10.6...

SIR of susceptible, infectious, and recovered compartments with individuals who take short "trips" to other locations away from home, plus diagram of four phylogenetic patterns of host-mediated infection (resident-to-resident, visitor-to-resident, resident-to-visitor, visitor-to-visitor).

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Michael Landis @landismj.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

New preprint modeling biogeo diversification of Hawaiian Kadua 🌱🏝️🌋 w/ @ca-naturalist.bsky.social @sswiston.bsky.social @fabiology.bsky.social @phylogeny.bsky.social Warren Wagner, Bruce Baldwin, Ken Wood @ninaronsted.bsky.social @fzapata.bsky.social biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2025.12.16.694722

Cartoon of paleogeographic, biogeographic, and phylogenetic history of an island plant radiation, and plots of hypothesized relationships between regional features and biogeographic rates.

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Reposted by Michael Landis

Albert Ch. Soewongsono @albertchristian.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

Today at WashU’s EEB seminar, I presented a new species diversification model that incorporates regional species diversity into rates of evolution through time (a joint work w/ @landismj.bsky.social). Slides here: sites.google.com/view/albert-... Preprint hopefully will be here this month #evobio

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Reposted by Michael Landis

Albert Ch. Soewongsono @albertchristian.bsky.social · 29/06/2025

What a blast attending my first in-person Evolution meetings! Had the opportunity to present our work on: 1. A new biogeographic model of species diversification that accounts for species richness. 2. Phylogeography model for infectious disease transmission with visitor dynamics. #Evol2025

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Reposted by Michael Landis

Casey terHorst @ecoevolab.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

EEB Mentor Match for 2025 is now open! This is an opportunity for students applying to graduate school in Ecology, Evolution, or Behavior to be matched with a mentor to guide them through the application process. Mentors can sign up too! eebmentormatch.com

eebmentormatch.com

EEB Mentor Match

Visit the post for more.

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Michael Landis @landismj.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

Today is the last day to register for the SSB Mentorship Program! We're looking for a few more mentors to volunteer. Mentoring only takes one hour each month, and is a great way to support the next generation of biodiversity researchers! #evobio 🧪 @systbiol.bsky.social

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Reposted by Michael Landis

The Society of Systematic Biologists @systbiol.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

Our members will find this morning’s phylogenetic methods session interesting. Phenomenal talks across all career stages of researchers: www.xcdsystem.com/evolution/pr...

xcdsystem.com

Evolution 2025

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Michael Landis @landismj.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

Please share! We need a few more folks (esp. mentors) to join the SSB Mentorship Program for 2025. Help the next generation of systematists take flight! Past mentors say: "really satisfying", "extremely gratifying", "optimism-inspiring", "just do it!" www.systbio.org/mentorship-p... #evobio 🧪

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Reposted by Michael Landis

The Society of Systematic Biologists @systbiol.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Prez-Elect and council election season may be over, but student rep elections are just around the corner! Get your application in by May 31. Details in the link.

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Reposted by Michael Landis

Prosanta Chakrabarty @prosanta.bsky.social · 24/05/2025

More details coming soon, but mark your calendars ... Breakout meeting for @systbiol.bsky.social‬ The Society of Systematic Biologists - will be Jan 9-11 in Baton Rouge! Topic is 'The Importance of Natural History Collections' @jembrown.bsky.social is primary host/organizer ssb2026.github.io

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Reposted by Michael Landis

Kelly Zamudio @kzutaustin.bsky.social · 24/05/2025

Hey folks going to #evol2025 in Athens. The SSE #DEI committee is sponsoring a workshop on how to avoid bias in writing T&P letters. Registration is required and the workshop is open to all career stages! Please share and help spread the word @sse-evolution.bsky.social @evolmtg.bsky.social

announcement for the SSE Sponsored Workshop "Avoiding Bias When Writing Tenure and Promotion Leters"

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Reposted by Michael Landis

Michael Landis @landismj.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

It's back! The Society of Systematic Biologists is running Year 3 of the Mentorship Program! Find community, support your colleagues, and talk trees. Apply by June 10th, 2025. Program info: www.systbio.org/mentorship-p... Application form: forms.gle/QtD22C9dtfRF... @systbiol.bsky.social

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Rosana Zenil-Ferguson @roszenil.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

A few spots more for this workshop if you didn't get to register. Notice that there are some participant support costs that will go to attendees! @tropicalbotany.bsky.social

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Michael Landis @landismj.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

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Isaac Lichter Marck @ca-naturalist.bsky.social · 22/04/2025

Join us July 27th the day before #Botany2025 for a free phylogenetic biogeography workshop in RevBayes! Taught by @landismj.bsky.social +Sarah Swiston (WUSTL), Felipe Zapata (UCLA), and myself, with surprise guests! Details: www.botanyconference.org/workshops/wo...

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Reposted by Michael Landis

Scott Delaney @scott-delaney.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

NIH indirects case update: Hearing ongoing now, and I'll try to live tweet some notable exchanges. Prior to more detailed arguments, Judge Kelley starts off with a few point questions to both sides: (I'm paraphrasing here)

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Michael Landis @landismj.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

Familiar expression from whiteboard, earlier. Seems about right.

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Michael Landis @landismj.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

Tell us what is yet to be www.cambridge.org/core/books/b...

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